Marriage and Family Blog

Things You Need to Know Before You Get Married…or Divorced

September 12, 2018

“I wish I had known this before I got married.” I hear this a lot as a counselor. Sometimes it’s said in jest, and sometimes it’s said in frustration. Before we get married, we think we know what it takes to have a good marriage. It’s only after we’re married that we begin to find out […]

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The Steps to a Great Marriage

August 31, 2018

The steps to a great marriage. You see a lot of titles like this if you spend any time on social media. Everyone is giving you three steps to this and four steps to that. In fact, the experts tell social media writers that these are the types of headlines that get the most clicks. […]

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How To Stay Together When Others Are Coming Apart

August 5, 2018

As a Teaching and Counseling Pastor, I come across marriages of all shapes, sizes, ages, and stages. There are those in the very beginning of their marriage. They have no kids, all the time in the world, and life is just one long extended date. But then there are those who’s marriage is down the […]

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How the Heart of a Marriage Survives a Near Fatal Heart Surgery

July 26, 2018

In the following guest post by Debbie Latour, you will hear how a married couple faced a dangerous heart surgery and came out stronger in love, life, and faith. When you’re divorced, middle aged, and are given the gift of happily-ever-after with a second marriage, your optimism for the future is renewed. The birds sing […]

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How To Be A Better Person

June 21, 2018

If you want to know how to be a better spouse and have a better marriage, it starts with learning how to be a better person. Right now, my spouse is probably laughing her head off at the idea that I can tell you how to be a better person. She would be the first […]

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I Learned 3 Simple Marriage Rules From a Preschooler

June 14, 2018

Last weekend, I learned three simple marriage rules from a preschooler when I picked up my four-year-old granddaughter for a much needed date. It was a standard date for us: getting some much-needed essentials from the toy store, catching up on the latest children’s literature at the bookstore, and topping it all off with some elegant dining […]

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3 Questions for an Ailing Marriage

May 15, 2018

I’ve discovered three questions you can use to diagnose an ailing marriage. I would like to tell you I discovered these questions while completing my graduate degree in Marriage and Family Counseling, but the truth is, I discovered these questions while lying in a hospital bed.

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Trick Questions and Expectations in Marriage

April 23, 2018

Trick questions can be…well…tricky. For instance, how would you answer this question: “Have you stopped beating your spouse?” Answering this question is tricky, because if you agree, it sounds like you use to beat your spouse. If you disagree, it sounds like your still beating your spouse. Watch out for the trick questions.  When I […]

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Getting Over the Wall of Resentment

March 23, 2018

Resentment can be like a wall that separates spouses, and the longer the wall stays up, the harder it is to get over it. Walls of resentment can become so high and thick that spouses lose hope of ever getting over it. But there are some things you can do if you have a wall […]

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Marital Drift and How to Stop It.

March 15, 2018

Have you ever had the experience of looking at your spouse in thinking, “We use to be so close. How did we drift apart? What happened?” If you have, you are not alone. I think that thought crosses the mind of nearly every spouse at one time or another. Marriage can be like a boat […]

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